| Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 9, 2011

An uneven and unimaginative sex comedy about small-town losers.

| Original Score: C | Oct 22, 2010

ultimately heartwarming and humorous enough to merit a recommendation

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 23, 2008

...ultimately finds itself unable to hold the viewer's interest for more than a few minutes at a time.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 20, 2008

Amateurs had all the potential in the world to be a charming, oddball delight, but it's a mess. A horrible mess. Albeit a horrible mess with some big laughs and the evergreen presence of Jeff Bridges.

| Original Score: C- | Jan 30, 2008

The only burst of creativity is the number of euphemisms Traeger has for pussy ("fruit cup" was my favorite)

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 29, 2008

All this star power goes for naught in Traeger's film, which tries to blend bucolic sweetness with juvenile let's-make-a-porno jokes.

| Jan 18, 2008

It ranges from awkward to excruciating.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Dec 14, 2007

The chief virtue of Amateurs is that it gives many talented people (Valerie Perrine, Judy Greer, Lauren Graham, Tim Blake Nelson) a scene or two in which to shine.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 14, 2007

A sleazy, uninspired, pathetically unfunny sex farce.

| Original Score: D | Dec 13, 2007

A strong ensemble cast spruces up a weak script in this trifle...the little picture that, ultimately, doesn't.

| Original Score: C | Dec 11, 2007

Writer and director Michael Traeger cribs from a variety of sources and paints a sitcom-like façade that at times becomes more than a bit unbearable. Thankfully he's got a keen eye for casting...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 10, 2007

Do not waste your time with The Amateurs.

Full Review | Dec 10, 2007

The Amateurs has been shelved for a number of years because -- just a ballpark guess here -- it's not funny.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Dec 7, 2007

Potential laughs are largely lost due to the one-note nature of the characters.

| Dec 7, 2007

There are no laughs to be found in writer-director Michael Traeger's would-be comedy The Amateurs, but there is one big mystery: how actors of this caliber could have been convinced to take part.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Dec 7, 2007

It's just not much fun to watch first time director Michael Traeger aim for Capra-esque comedy and wind up closer to crap.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2007

As a writer, Traeger is consternatingly adolescent and glib.

| Dec 6, 2007

The Amateurs turns out to be a mini-classic of sweet vulgarity, much in the vicinity if not the exact class of the recent spate of the Judd Apatow canon.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 5, 2007

You'll notice that the actors are way overqualified for this nonsense. But the kick they get out of one another is what pulls you in.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 7, 2006